Tuesday October 1st, 2002

Czech driver Tomas Enge said he respected the FIA's decision after he was stripped of the International Formula 3000 title on Tuesday after being disqualified from the race in Hungary where he underwent a positive dope test.

Traces of cannabis were found in a sample given by Enge, who competed in Formula One with the now defunct Prost team at the end of the 2001 season, during the Hungarian weekend.

Enge, who becomes the first world champion to lose a title because of a drug test, won the championship by three points from France's Sebastien Bourdais. But the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) excluded him from the Hungary result at a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris.

Enge was also given a conditional 12-month suspension, but the FIA said he would avoid a ban if he "tests negative in random dope tests to be conducted over the next 12 months".

The Czech was quoted as saying on the idnes.cz website: "I fully respect the ruling and I am glad that I can race further. I know the council did not have an easy job and I respect its verdict."

He went on to win the event at the Hungaroring and then sealed the championship.

"Tomas Enge will be excluded from the results of the 2002 Hungarian F3000 race," the FIA said in a statement.

Italian Enrico Toccacelo will be credited with the win in Hungary, while compatriot Giorgio Pantano and Bourdais are now classified as second and third respectively in the event. Pantano finished third in the overall standings four points behind Bourdais, but the revised Hungarian results reduce the deficit to three points.

The championship standings, however, will remain provisional until Thursday when the FIA's International Court of Appeal hears an appeal against the results of the final round in Italy.

Pantano's Coloni Motorsport had an appeal against the validity of the cars of Enge, his Team Arden teammate Bjorn Wirdheim and Brazilian Antonio Pizzonia, of the Petrobras team, rejected by stewards immediately after the race.

Pantano would be classified as the winner of the Italian round if the trio were disqualified and it would also mean he would win the championship. Swede Wirdheim won the race from Pizzonia and Enge with Pantano fourth, while Bourdais retired from the race.

Published at 17:01:03 GMT